The seven-room bed and breakfast, which also had a restaurant and beach bar, was completely gutted by the Tuesday night blaze.

O'Brien says firefighters couldn't enter the hotel because the spreading flames made it too dangerous. Firefighters were also limited to fighting the fire from two sides because the hotel was on a peninsula.

O'Brien called the blaze one of the worst he could remember since the 1980s.

One firefighter was hospitalized after suffering from smoke inhalation.

The investigation found the origin of the fire was within the wall area of the Blue Water Inn, on the southeast corner of the building, which backs the kitchen and holds the electrical entrance panels.

The blaze has been classified as accidental. The cause is most probably an electrical malfunction of the electrical service.